This is not a Drill
by wuemsel
Summary: Sometimes it's just not Erik's turn to be the hero-warrior, no matter if he agrees or not. (Cherik est. rl)


**This is not a Drill**

_by wuemsel_

Erik didn't notice right away that all the kids were walking towards the exits. He had just come inside again after a run in the garden and wasn't paying much attention to the kids. It was only after a while that the silence hit him. They weren't running, yelling at each other and laughing, like usually, but they were marching quietly in the same direction - towards the nearest exit.

Erik stopped at a window and saw them gathering outside on the lawn, still silent, waiting. He could see Hank as well, as still and patient as the kids.

Dread filled him, the familiar sensation of switching into fighting mode. He could feel his senses sharpening, his breath evening out. He was about to reach out to Charles - maybe this was a new way of assembling everyone for a speech...

He blinked. He wasn't at the window any more, but on the stairs, left of the kitchen. On his way towards the kitchen door. He could feel the urge to go outside still lingering like phantom pain. He couldn't remember walking. His head hurt.

"Erik!"

Erik frowned, rubbing his forehead. He steadied himself against the wall with one hand.

"Charles, what the fuck?" he replied to Charles' voice inside his head.

"I'm sorry." Charles sounded strained and the volume was off kilter, like a bad connection on the phone. "I can't divert any more of my power to get you outside. Go get the children. You all need to leave the estate. Take them to-"

Erik groaned, when a sudden flash of pain seemed to split his head. In a second it was gone, no lingering effects, nothing.

He could hear Charles gasping.

"Charles. What's go-"

"We're under attack," Charles said. "You need to get everyone to safety. Away from the estate."

Erik's feet were carrying him to Cerebro before his mind had decided he needed to go there. "Hold on, I'm coming."

"No! Get the children!"

Erik stopped mid-step, frozen. It only lasted a moment, then he was running again. "Stop that!" he yelled out loud.

"Please," Charles said urgently. Every word now was accompanied by a throbbing ache in Erik's head. "I can't hold them back much longer. You need to get to safety. Erik, please."

"There's more than one?" Erik asked. He was at the lift now to carry him down to Cerebro.

"They're not here. Damn it, Erik, there's nothing you can do! Get the children!"

Erik could taste copper in his mouth. He wiped his nose, but there was no blood. He took a deep breath. "You're hurt. I'm coming."

"You can't help!" Charles shouted at him. It was so loud Erik winced. "I need to focus, I can't keep conversing with you. Just go! I can't distract them much longer. Go get the children!"

"Hank can look after the kids," Erik said. The lift doors were opening.

"I'm getting weaker. If they get a hold of you, they'll use you. Everybody must leave. I'll fight them, but I can't as long as I have to worry about you."

Erik was running down the narrow way to where Charles sat in Cerebro. "I'm here," he breathed, falling to his knees. Charles face was ashen, his eyes closed. Blood was sluggishly dripping from his nose.

Erik felt a rush of cold wash over him. He shivered. "Stop that," he breathed.

"I'm not doing it," Charles said in his mind. His eyes didn't open. "It's them. Erik, leave. Please!"

"How many are there?" Erik reached out to cup Charles' cheek with his hand. His skin was ice cold. Erik rubbed his thumb over it, desperately wanting to warm him.

"Two. They're strong, but I'll manage. Just please go. I'm shielding everyone and it's too much. I can't hit them back and keep them away from all of you."

"Make Hank and the kids leave."

"I have. You need to leave as well. Please... It's all I can do to shield you and withstand..." Charles winced and gasped. His fingers clawed at the armrests of Cerebro.

"Charles!" Panicked, Erik took his face in both hands, willing him to look at him. He gasped, when an ice cold hand seemed to grab his lungs and squeeze. Within a second, the sensation was gone.

"Leave!" Charles breathed. He still didn't open his eyes. "Please," he added in Erik's head.

Erik arched his brows, stroking Charles' face. "I can't leave you like this."

"You're putting both of us in danger," Charles said. His breath was coming in short puffs. He swallowed hard.

Erik was fighting the urge to just tear the damned helmet off of him and carry him outside.

"That won't stop them," Charles said. "They're here now. They'll use you to kill me. I need to fight back but I can't with you here."

"Charles-" It came out half sobbed. Charles' words hit Erik like blows. He knew he was right, but his body refused to let go of Charles.

"Damn it!" Charles said out loud. His hands came up to cover Erik's on his face -

\- Erik's breath was forced out of his lungs when he hit the floor. He blinked, confused, panic rushing through him. He opened his eyes wide, panting - he was outside Cerebro, outside the lift, upstairs, on the ground floor of the mansion. His head was pounding.

"Charles!"

There was no reply but an image of the gate at the far end of the estate.

"Charles!"

Erik stumbled to his feet, falling against the wall. The image remained. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch. Charles didn't have enough strength to force him to leave but he was doing the best he could.

Erik leaned against the wall, forcing down the urge to retch, taking deep breaths. "I'll go." He wasn't even sure Charles could hear him anymore. He didn't know if he had said it out loud or just thought it; his head was killing him.

He pushed himself off the wall and ran all the way to the gate, over the lawn, down the path. He collapsed to his knees just outside the gate. The pain in his head had lessened. Weakness washed through him. He felt like he was about to pass out.

"Charles."

There was no response.

Erik knelt on the ground, taking deep breaths and closed his eyes-

\- the kids were there and Hank, looming above him, concerned gazes on him, whispering.

"Hank..." Erik winced when he lifted his head. He glanced about, they were outside the gate still.

"I know," Hank said, reaching down to offer Erik support in sitting up. "Charles must've-"

"Yes," Erik interrupted him. "The school is under attack. We need to get the kids away from here."

Hank widened his eyes. "Under attack?" He looked back at the mansion, as quiet and peaceful as ever in the distance.

"Charles is," Erik said. "And the school with him. The kids need to be out of range. I don't know any more details. He said there's more than one attacker."

"Telepaths," Hank said.

"Obviously."

"We can take them to Emergency Hideout A or do you think-"

"Is that the B&B in town or the hotel upstate?" Erik asked.

"The B&B. The hotel upstate is Emergency Hideout C."

"Right. Let's go there, then. It's telepathy. If Charles can't stop whoever they are, they'll take over Cerebro, anyway and-"

"Can't we find out where they are physically," Hank asked, "and stop them?"

"Charles didn't say where they are. He might not know."

"He'd know. He's in Cerebro."

"Well, he was adamant we don't go back inside," Erik said, exasperated.

Hank nodded. "If he thought there was anything we could do, he'd have let us know. Well..." He turned around to the kids, waving a little. "Everybody to me. We're going on a field trip!"

The kids still looked a little dazed and followed him with no questions asked. Erik lingered back, watching the mansion. "Charles?" he reached out, but there was no answer.

He turned to look after Hank and the kids and reluctantly followed them down the street.

"Erik."

Erik jerked awake. It was dark outside the window, rain was lightly falling on the glass.

"... Erik..."

"Charles." Erik said up. A blanket was falling off his knees; he couldn't remembered putting it there. Hank must've tucked him in before turning in for the night. Erik was still sitting on the couch in the B&B's lounge.

"Charles," he tried again, reaching out in his head the way he always thought this thing worked. "Are you there?"

A wave of exhaustion ran through him, bone deep, like his body let go of one long sigh.

"I'm here. It's over."

Erik sat up straighter. "Are you all right?"

"... tired..."

"I'm on my way." Erik leapt to his feet, almost falling over the blanket.

"... sleepy... sorry for earlier..."

"Don't be silly, Charles. Hold on, I'm coming."

It took Erik half of the time it had taken to get to the B&B to get back to the mansion. On his way over the lawn he tried to listen for any extraordinary noises, tried to sense any traces of what had happened there. But the house stood tall and massive in the darkness, the grass was soft under his feet, the branches were moving in the drizzle.

No traces of a fight.

He had lost Charles halfway to the mansion, but that could have been because Charles had stepped out of Cerebro. Erik was doing his best not to panic.

"Almost there," he thought just outside Cerebro, as he opened the door.

"... I know..." Charles' voice in his head was little more than a whisper, a faint breath.

Erik saw him right away. He wasn't wearing the helmet any more and was sitting propped up against the chair on the ground, head hanging low. His hair looked sweaty; it was falling over his eyes, his face pale in the stark light.

Erik hurried next to him and knelt down. "Charles." Gently, he lifted Charles' head with both hands and brushed his hair back.

Charles' skin was warmer than he'd remembered it but still cool to the touch. Deep dark shadows lay under his eyes that were struggling to open. Blood from his nose had dried around it and his mouth.

Charles cleared his throat weakly as he opened his eyes to slits. His right hand flapped against Erik's chest, feebly trying to grab his wrist.

"Hey," Erik said, stroking Charles' face with his thumb. "Are you with me?"

"Tired," Charles repeated. His eyes fell closed and he opened them with what looked like maximum effort. He leaned into Erik's touch, letting go of a deep breath. "You're warm."

"You're freezing." Erik quickly took off his parka and wrapped it around Charles, hugging him to himself. "Are you hurt?"

"Everywhere," Charles muttered close to Erik's ear. Erik hugged him tighter.

"I'll get you to bed, hang on." He stood with a grunt, lifting Charles.

"... sleep..." Charles slurred.

"Yes, you can sleep, love," Erik leaned his head in close to touch his forehead to Charles' as he carried him to the lift. "Go to sleep. I'm here."

"... Erik..."

"I'm here, Charles. Let go, it's all right."

The next utterance of his name was merely a breath, a thought maybe, then Charles grew heavier in his arms, out like a light.

Erik could sense Charles waking up before he saw his eyes open. Like a light switch had been turned on in the background. He could see the light - somewhat.

"Hello," he said, wiping the back of his hand over Charles' forehead.

Charles blinked, heavy eyelids lifting sluggishly, and smiled at him. "I was hoping you'd be here," he said. He was a little hoarse. From screaming, Erik assumed.

"Where else would I be?" Erik moved his hand to stroke Charles' cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted," Charles breathed.

"You look it. You slept for ten hours straight."

"The children-"

"Have returned. They quite enjoyed their little drill."

Charles smiled. "Ah. Yes, I imagine so."

"Emergency Hideout A apparently has an amazing breakfast buffet."

Charles nodded. "Is that the B&B in town or the yacht?"

"The B&B."

"Ah. Yes, they do."

"Speaking of breakfast-"

Charles winced. "Not just now. Please."

Erik smiled ruefully and leaned forward to press his forehead against Charles'. "You feel warmer."

"They hit me with cold mostly," Charles said and buried deeper under the cover, rubbing his cheek against Erik's. "It hurt," he thought.

"Who were they?"

"Telepaths."

"You don't say."

"Australian. I was excited to've found them. Twins. But..." Charles shuddered He lifted his head a little to bury his face against Erik's neck. "They won't be back."

"Do they know where we are? Do we need to-"

"I wiped their minds," Charles said. "I hurt them." He closed his eyes, hiding.

Erik frowned. "They attacked you."

"They were lost."

"They were lucky they weren't here."

Charles opened his eyes again to look at Erik, a humourless smile tugging at his lips. "I told them that."

Erik snorted. "Good."

"They won't be back. It was my mistake, I was too trustworthy. As always. C'mon, say it." Charles lowered his gaze. "I know you have SOMETHING to say."

Erik could feel him tense under his hands. He sat back a little to look at Charles, waiting for him to lift his gaze.

"I do. I'm sorry."

Charles looked up.

"For arguing. It was your fight and I made it unnecessarily harder for you by refusing to leave. I was wrong. I should've done as you said right away."

Charles still stared at him.

"I hate seeing you hurt. It's... seeing you like that... it made me want to kill someone, but it wasn't my fight, I couldn't have done anything, anyway. I should have just left when you told me so. I'm sorry."

More staring, until Erik smiled. "Charles?"

"I don't know what to say to that," Charles said. "This is new."

"You say 'apology accepted', I think. Or not."

"No. Yes! Yes, of course. No, just... Thank you."

Erik shook his head, still smiling. "Don't thank me for apologising. We need to thank you for protecting us."

"It's my school," Charles said. "My children, my Erik. Nobody messes with that."

Erik petted his hair and pressed a kiss on his nose. "I'm glad you were there to protect me."

"I think I'm still dreaming."

"Of course," Erik continued, "without Cerebro, they never would've found a way in."

Charles let his head fall back onto the cushion a little, groaning. "I knew it."

"That machine will be the end of us all."

"Erik-"

"I should've destroyed it right away."

"Darling-"

"And you'll never get in it again."

Charles sighed, hugging Erik to him, as he climbed onto the bed. "We'll talk about that later. I'm still a bit cold." He snuggled in closer.

"Don't change the subject."

"Hmmmm, you're warm."

"Charles."

"Later," Charles said in his mind. "Please."

"All right, later," Erik agreed and hugged him close. "My hero."

"I love you."

"Still going to have that talk."

Charles sighed.

"And I love you, too." Erik pecked his forehead.

THE END


End file.
